Lead bronze composition



Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE by mesne assignments, to Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, a corporation of New York No Drawing. Original application October 31,

1933, Serial No. 696,025. Divided and this application December 12, 1935, Serial No. 54,061

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to metallic compositions, and more particularly to such compositions which are useful for bearing purposes and as welding rods for building up such baring com- 5 positions.

A well recognized principle of the oxy-acetylene welding art is the use of a strongly oxidizing flame when welding copper alloys such as brass and bronze, for with this type of flame most of the common copper alloys may be successfully welded and the weld metal will be free from porosity. However, considerable difliculties are encountered when attempts are made to weld copper alloys having a high lead content, such as bearing compositions, for example, since in this case a more strongly oxidizing flame is necessary than when welding copper alloys containing no lead. The excessively oxidizing character of this flame leads to the formation of a heavy refractory coating of slag in the welding puddle and dimculty is met with in floating this slag to the surface. As a satisfactory compromise cannot be reached, the welding of this type of alloys has always been considered a very unsatisfactory operation.

An object of this invention is to improve the welding qualities of copper alloys having a high lead content, so that it is possible, when using the proper welding flame, to obtain a weld deposit which is of uniform composition and substantially free from porosity, slag or oxide inclusions, and

other defects.

Another object of this invention is to produce lead-containing bearing bronzes which are hard ened by the addition of silicon.

In accordance with the principles of this invention, the above objects are attained and the difliculties mentioned are avoided by adding silicon to lead-containing copper alloys having a high lead content, whereby there is obtained a' 40 novel type of alloy having a hard matrix in spite of a high lead content. Although silicon has generally been considered undesirable by bronze founders as an addition to bronze for castings, in accordance with this invention if silicon is added to lead-containing bronzes in amounts up to about 5% and not less than 0.25% it is beneficial and produces a material suitable for hearing purposes or a welding rod having novel valuable properties. With the amounts of silicon stated, the hardness of the matrix is considerably increased and at the same time the high lead content desired for bearing surfaces may be safely maintained. This combination of greater hardness in spite of a high lead content results in a longer useful life for bearings as compared with bearings without silicon and improves the welds.- bilityrthereof.

It has also been found that, in welding rods, in additionto silicon, zinc, either with or without phosphorus, is of further advantage in improving the flowing quality and soundness of the deposited metal. Furthermore, although silicon is gener- Per cent Lead 8 to 18 Tin 6 to 10 Copper the remainder This composition is generally known as a hearing alloy. It has been found that to improve the welding characteristics and bearing properties of this alloy, the addition of as small an amount of silicon as 0.25% is effective, although as much as 5% silicon may be desirable in some particular cases. In addition to silicon, zinc in amounts from 0.50 to 6.00% is of value, about 3 to 4% zinc being preferred. I have also found that the alloys having a silicon content below about 1% are relatively soft and not essentially different in physical properties from the base alloy, regardless of the zinc content. However, as the silicon content is increased over 1%, the hardness of the alloy increases rapidly until with about 6% silicon, a somewhat brittle alloy is obtained. Therefore, there are, in general, at least two types of alloys which may be used for bearing purposes or for welding rods for building up bearings. The first type of these alloys is a softbronze having approximately the following composition:

. Per cent Lead 12.00-15.00

Tin 8.00-10.00 Silicon 0.50- 1.25

Zinc 3.00- 4.00

Copper balance This alloy has a Brinell hardness of about 55 to 65, and a microstructure similar to that obtained in sand-cast alloys of an average bear-. ing-bronze composition.

The second type of alloy has approximately the following composition:

This alloy is essentially different from the standard bearing-bronze in that the matrix has a hardness of from 100 to 190 Brinell. This alloy is possessed of bearing qualities substantially superior to those of the alloy with lower or no silicon content, because of the harder matrix and also due to the presence of the copper-silicon compound which is formed in addition to the copper-tin compound. This type of alloy has freer-flowing characteristics when used for welding rods, or when cast, than the alloy having a lower silicon content.

Instead of silicon, it is possible to use either magnesium or aluminum as a hardening and scavenging agent. Both of these latter elements are strong slagging agents and readily form a slag over the surface of the metal, under which the welding takes place quite satisfactorily. Small amounts of either of these elements are beneficial, but as much as 3% aluminum may be used without detriment. Generally, whether silicon, magnesium of aluminum is used as a deoxidizer or hardener, zinc is of sufficient benefit to be added also, and for this purpose from 3 to 5% zinc seems to be best.

Prosphorus may be used concurrently with silicon. Phosphorus-containing alloys are especially free-flowing, and the deposited metal is free from porosity. Phosphorus also possesses the ability to harden copper since it forms copper-phosp-hide, a hard constituent which lengthe ns the useful life of bearings of which it is a constituent.

It may be advantageous to add relatively small amounts of nickel to some of the alloys described herein. Nickel apparently has two functions: first it helps to sustain the lead in suspension so that it is uniformly distributed throughout the alloy; second, it combines with silicon to form nickel-silicide, which in itself is ahardening agent for copper alloys.

A few typical alloy compositions made in accordance with the principles of this invention are as follows: I

The alloy of the invention thus comprises a lead bronze containing a powerful deoxidizing agent such as silicon, aluminum or magnesium, a fluidifying agent such as silicon, phosphorus or zinc, and a hardening agent such as silicon, phosphorus or nickel.

This application is a division of my prior application, Serial No. 696,025, filed October 31,

I claim:

,1. An alloy having substantially the composition: 8% to 18% lead, 6% to 10% tin, 0.5% to 6% zinc, 0.25% to 5% silicon, and the remainder copper.

2. A welding rod having substantially the composition: 12% to 15% lead, 8% to 10% tin, 3% to 5% zinc, 0.25% to 5% silicon, and the remainder copper.

ARTHUR R. LY'ILE. 

